First, consider that misappropriation of web transmitted credit information by a third party through electronic means is unknown. It is virtually impossible to do when the transaction takes place on an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) secured site. SSL is an encoding standard that virtually all Internet vendors (including SelfSource) now use. SSL was developed by Netscape Communications to provide safe transmission of sensitive information, and is the standard for all browsers on the market today.

Another safety concern is how well protected the credit info is once it is received and stored. This is one of the issues addressed in the shopping guidelines below. SelfSource customers can rest assured that their credit data are safe in the hands of First Union National Bank, who handles our credit transactions.

Statistics from credit card issuers show that the vast majority of credit fraud happens in the physical world. You see, card companies can distinguish between an Internet generated authorization request and a physical store request at the time of authorization. If the Internet request were shown to carry a higher risk, they could simply not accept them, and Internet retail commerce would not exist.

As it happens, statistically, Internet credit authorizations as a transaction class carry a SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER RISK to the credit card issuer than the average transaction.

Another common misconception: when people find charges on their credit statements for internet products or services they did not buy, they assume the credit info was also stolen on the Internet. Just because the card was used on the Web doesn't mean the number was stolen on the Web. People steal credit cards at stores, from mail order houses, gas stations, etc., and use them on the Web.

Let us give you some handy tips to identify reputable retail businesses on the Web:

1. Reputable firms always identify the physical address of their place of business and supply a phone number. Our information is on the "About Us" page of our site.

2. Look for retail sites that use a major bank to clear credit authorizations, rather than homegrown credit operations. You'll notice when you shop at SelfSource that we run all our credit transactions through First Union National Bank, one of the largest and most established banks in the U.S. For more information about FUNB and the security they provide, Click Here.

3. Make sure your browser supports the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption standard. We don't know of one that doesn't these days, but if you have a very old version of a browser, you might need to upgrade. For instance, the Netscape browser has a key (or padlock) icon in the lower left corner which is broken on unsecured pages, and changes to being whole on secured. The only pages that need to be secure on an Internet store are the ones where you actually enter your credit information: typically the order form.

4. Look for businesses that are incorporated. These can be checked for veracity and clean business records free of charge by contacting the chamber of commerce of the state in which they do business.